The Protest Movement
by Lexie-H
Summary: ONESHOT. A fun and very timely social commentary from the eyes of Lily Evans. A bit of romance, and quite humorous if you're into irony... come check it out, and join the Review Revolution!


A young, pretty little red haired author sat at her computer on a rainy Sunday night, staring in dismay at her screen.

From the darkened doorway behind her, her boyfriend emerged. Kissing her cheek, he set down the mug of steaming hot chocolate he was carrying, and knelt beside her. Pushing his black-rimmed glasses up his nose, he glanced suspiciously between the computer screen and the girl.

"How's it going, Lils?" he asked, quietly concerned by the devastated expression etched across her face.

Lils shook her head miserably. "I _was_ top of Arithmancy, right? I'm not just imagining the whole thing?" she murmured anxiously.

Her boyfriend smiled. "Lily Evans, of _course_ you were top of Arithmancy. That goes without saying!"

Lily sighed. "So my calculations _aren't_ out, then. How is it possible that I've had 2000 hits and only 30 reviews, James? And that's not even the worst of it – _look!_" She brandished her wand at the screen angrily. "800 hits and _ONE_ review!"

James regarded the love of his life affectionately. "Sweetie, you're sitting at a computer screen typing up stories about stories. Don't stress! At least someone's reading them, right?"

Lily moaned, smacking her head on the keyboard. The keyboard let out a line of verbal diarrhea in protest. "_Gjdfkbtigsafwbg!"_

"You're missing the point, James!" Lily cried out, frustrated. "How do I know if my readers like them or not? And how am I supposed to improve my writing when no one tells me what's wrong with it?"

James gently removed Lily's hands from the keyboard, and gripped them tightly in his. The warmth of his calloused fingers stroking her palms temporarily soothed the young woman – but only temporarily.

"Honey, you write beautifully. Please don't stress, they're not worth it." His look darkened. "Just because they're too rude to review doesn't mean that you should be beating yourself up about it."

Lily let out a miserable wail. "I know, you're right, you're right," she conceded miserably. "But it doesn't make me feel any better. I just-" she hiccupped "- want to be-" _hiccup_ "-appreciated!"

James stood up and pulled her to him, embracing her in his warm, comforting arms.

" _I_ appreciate you," he whispered fiercely, and proceeded to kiss away her tears. "No one else matters, Lils."

Gripping her chin with his fingers, he guided her face up to his, and kissed her.

All stray thoughts of rude non-reviewers flew from her mind as his strong, caressing lips closed over hers. Lily gasped.

Remembering what she was so upset about, she tore herself away, hiding her face in the soft fabric of his shirt. There were many problems that could be cured by his kiss, but this was not one of them. Nevertheless, James had reminded Lily of something very important: she could either sit there, her eyes boring a hole into the screen as she _willed_ the seven people currently reading her work to review. Alternatively, she could stop feeling sorry for herself and address the problem at its cause.

Lily snuffled a bit into his shirt. James laughed, a deep, rolling rumble within his chest, and kissed the crown of her head for good measure.

"Feeling better, now, my love?"

Lily nodded, biting her lip, yet it seemed to James she was still rather upset. Then suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, something unfurled within her. James smiled, recognizing the familiar determined sparkle in Lily's eyes.

"Well?" the tall young man prompted her expectantly.

"I'll start a protest movement!" Lily announced, a small, satisfied smile spreading across her lips.

"A protest movement?" James chuckled. "How?"

"Well," Lily replied with a new air of efficiency, resuming her seat in the desk chair.

With a feeling that this may take some explanation, James found a seat too, perching on the edge of the desk and crossing his arms skeptically.

"I _know_ I'm not the only one who's suffering," Lily began practically. "There's plenty of other well written, serious pieces of fan fiction out there that aren't receiving the acclaim they deserve!"

James nodded. "Makes sense. But what about the people who _do_ get reviews? Are you just going to ignore them?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, and I'm not saying that they don't deserve their reviews. I just think that if we can establish a little community, then more and more people will hear about us and check out our stuff!"

James rolled his eyes. "Lily, as much as I love you, has anyone ever told you that you border on obsessive?"

Lily grinned. Perhaps James was right, and she _was_ overreacting a tad – but she didn't care! If she could establish a community that would support and review each other's works of fiction, then not only would every one receive the appreciation they deserve, perhaps their fictions could even expand to a - _gasp_ - broader audience! Really, the idea was so simple Lily couldn't believe that no one had thought of it before!

_Well, maybe they have_, she conceded. _But this time, it was going to be different!_

"So how are you going to get people's attention?" James asked.

_A fair question, really_.

Lily's smile, if possible, widened. "I'll do what I do best," she announced, excited. "I'll write a story!"

James shook his head again at his girlfriend's folly. "You're so cute when you're scheming," he told her. "I'm sure it will work!"

And with that, James kissed Lily for the last time in this fiction, and left her to it.

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Lily sat back, impressed. Before her sat a brand new community and forum, both called the Reviews Lounge. There, she hoped that under-reviewed author's like herself would be able to meet, talk, and attain the acclaim they deserved.

Lily's fingers flourished at the keyboard: _"And they all lived happily ever after..." _

**If you'd like to find out more about 'the Review Revolution' or this new community and forum , _The Reviews Lounge_, read on! Alternatively, go and look them up! **

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**Disclaimer: The characters are JKR's. The idea is mine! (The problem may apply to you all)**

**A/N: Feel free not to take this seriously, it's just a bit of fun (pointed though it may be). For anyone who _is_ interested, the Reviews Lounge C2 community and forum are both flourishing! You can easily find us by going through the links on my authors page, running a Reviews Lounge search, or looking us up in the Harry Potter forum pages (where we are currently the fastest growing forum there)! Everyone is welcome, and we love to see new faces. **

Anyway, enough of that. If reading this has encouraged you to review the other work you read, my job is done! Thank you for taking the time out to read _my_ story, it means a lot. And remember: reviews really make an author's day 

- Lexie


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